“E” = Elvis + “F” = Frank
Many touted it as a passing-of-the-torch moment when Frank Sinatra, the teenage idol of the ’40s, seemingly passed that torch on to Elvis. “Welcome Home Elvis” was a 1960 television special on ABC starring Frank Sinatra and featuring Elvis Presley in his first television appearance since returning home from military service in Germany. With The King’s return home ABC Television won a battle to air Elvis’s first post-Army TV performance paying him $125,000 (somewhere around $1 million dollars today) for the honor. The television show was officially titled “Nice To Go Traveling,” but because it was Elvis’s 1st appearance on television in 3 years it became more commonly known as “Welcome Home Elvis” and was built around that homecoming theme for Presley.
Having been absent from the Rock ‘n Roll scene for 2 years and also having suffered the loss of his mother, Gladys, the post-Army Elvis was realistically nervous … wondering if the public would still embrace him as they had in the 1950s. It turned out that he shouldn’t have been concerned. Elvis performed “Stuck On You” and “Fame & Fortune,” his current single which had already reached #1 on the charts by the time the show aired. Still the major highlight of that evening was the duet between Frank and Elvis. Sinatra sang the Elvis hit, from the Presley movie of the same name, “Love Me Tender,” while Elvis crooned Frank’s “Witchcraft” weaving the two songs into a duet. The superstars seemed to enjoy their clever collaboration and were obviously happy with their easy harmonizing as they hammed it up for the shrieking girls in the audience.
So, if you’d like, let’s all jump into The Wayback Machine and join the boys in concert.
My Elvis Regret
autograph. I carried that autograph in my wallet for years. Then Elvis started recording songs like “Do The Clam” and I became less enamored with his music. By the time The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream and Jimi Hendrix arrived on the scene … having an Elvis autograph really seemed kind of lame. I had been an “all-in-black/leather-jacket” Elvis fan. The “Vegas-Jumpsuit” Elvis just left me missing the days of the “That’s All Right Mama” Presley. One day while cleaning out my wallet I tossed the Elvis autograph. I kid you not!! I TOSSED THE ELVIS AUTOGRAPH! I’ve seen what are purportedly Elvis autographs and in comparison mine was absolutely pristine! Very clear and easily read. Have you any idea how much that Elvis autograph would be worth today!? And, let me tell ya, I would have sold it in a heartbeat!
Jay Hamilton is a veteran disc jockey, program director, music director and radio programming consultant. In the Pacific Northwest, he is best remembered for his time at KMPS AM/FM during the ’70s and ’80s. Jay is now retired and lives on the Olympic Peninsula. Music, of nearly every genre, has always been an important aspect of his life and he frequently contributes opinions, articles and “Collectibles” to QZVX.
QUESTIONS–TECHNICAL ISSUES???
Okay Jay, so you were disappointed in the King for wearing Vegas jumpsuits. But as I recall, about that same time you always wore your vivid purple Vegas jumpsuit to our remotes.
As you’ll recall Steven, I borrowed your jumpsuit that one time only because Barnum & Bailey was in town and they required I wear a clown suit if I was to do a remote at the circus … and you required I bring you 15 bags of unshelled peanuts as payment for its use.